TIVE 

HO.  94-82284-  8 


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Author: 


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Title: 

Early  exp 

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Place: 

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Date: 

905 


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MASTER   NEGATIVE   * 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DIVISION 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARGET 


ORIGINAL  MATERIAL  AS  FILMED  -    EXISTING  BIBLIOGRAPHIC  RECORD 


Rockefeller,  John  Davison,  1839- 

Early  experiences  of  a  young  business  man;  a 
plain  talk  by  a  plain  nan  at  the  Club  of  the 
Young  nen*s  Bible  class  of  the  Fifth  avenue 
Baptist  church,  Saturday  ev*g.  May  7th,  1904. 
[Ilew  Yorkj  1905. 

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Early  Experiences 

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THE    CLUB 

OF 

THE    YOUNG    MEN'S    BIBLE   CLASS 

OP   THE   FIFTH   AVENUE    BAPTIST    CHURCH 

Saturday  Ev'g,  May  7th,  1904 

hsuid  by  The  Class 
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•    EARLY      BUSINESS      EXPERIENCES 

OF 

JOHN     D.     ROCKEFELLER 


Copyright.  190;>. 

BY 

The    Young    Men's    Bible   Class 

OF    THE 
FIFTH    AVENUE    BAPTIST   CHURCH 


'N 


\ 
\ 


!:•    « 


HE  last  word  of  the  elcquent 
speaker  has  touched  my  heart,  to 
be  called  your  friend.  As  I  have 
looked  into  your  faces  frcm  time 
to  time,  as  I  have  had  the  plea- 
sure of  meeting  you,  I  felt  that 
you  were  my  friends,  and  I  have 
always  felt  that  I  wanted  to  be 
your  friend.  And  so  it. is  a  very  great  pleasure  to 
meet  you  here  tonight — we  meet  as  friends. 

And  if  I  were  to  give  one  reason  among  others 
for  my  securing  the  first  position  in  business — 
my  footing — my  first  start  in  life — it  would  be 
that  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  associated  in 
my  early  boyhood  with  such  dear  friends  as  you 
are.  The  association  into  which  I  was  called, 
at  fourteen,  in  the  church  and  in  the  schools, 
with  good  men,  with  good  young  men,  the  asso- 
ciation in  which  I  found  occupation  in  the  church, 
in  the  Sunday  School,  in  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,   helped  me  more  than   I 


'^■■iiiiM^^^^^^^ 


1 


!• 


can  tell  you  to  make  the  beginning,  to  get  a  posi- 
tion and  an  opportunity  to  begin  my  life  work. 

I  would  name  as  another  help  in  this  same 
direction  the  fact  that  from  my  earliest  recollec- 
tion I  had  a  peculiar  training  in  my  home.  It 
seemed  to  be  a  business  training  from  the  verv 
beginning.  I  was  taught  to  do  things,  simple 
things  such  as  a  boy  could  do.  I  was  taught  to 
be  self-reliant.  At  the  age  of  seven  or  eight  I 
was  taught,  as  a  boy  in  the  country,  to  milk  a 
cow.  I  could  milk  a  cow  as  well  as  a  man  could. 
That  is  a  very  simple  thing  to  refer  to  but  that 
was  one  of  the  things  I  began  to  learn.  I  was 
taught  at  the  age  of  eight  to  drive  a  horse,  and  to 
drive  him  just  as  carefully  as  a  man  could.  1  re- 
member very  well  the  instruction  of  my  father — 
"  My  son,  hold  very  carefully  going  down  the 
hill.  Don't  let  him  stumble.  When  you  are  on 
the  level  road  let  him  trot  right  along."  And 
I  never  shall  forget  that.  . 

I  was  taught  to  do  as  much  business  at  the 
age  of  ten  and  eleven  as  it  was  possible  for  me  to 
do.  Among  other  things  I  was  sent  over  the 
hills  to  buy  cordwood  for  the  use  of  the  family, 
and  I  knew  what  a  cord  of  good,  solid  beech  and 
maple  wood  was,  and  my  father  told  me  to  select 
only  the  solid  wood  and  the  straight  wood,  and 
not  to  put  any  limbs  in  or  any  "punky"  wood. 
That  was  a  good  training  for  me.  1  didn't 
need  my  father  or  anybody  else  to  tell  me  how 
many  feet  it  took  to  make  a  cord  of  wood,  and  I 
didn't  require  the  presence  of  anybody  to  enable 
me  secure  from  the  man  who  sold  that  wood 
good  measure. 

.  And  there  are  many  other  such  things  that  I 
was  taught  to  do.  When  I  was  a  little  older  my 
father  commissioned  me  to  build  a  house.      He 


i 


said,  '*  My  son.  here  is  the  money.  I  want  you 
to  build  a  good,  brick  house  that  will  make  us  a 
home."  1  employed  an  architect,  we  let  out  the 
contracts,  and  we  built  the  house.  We  had  no 
trouble  with  the  architect  or  the  contractor. 
1  hat  gave  me  a  great  deal  of  confidence.  Every- 
thmg  came  out  all  right  and  I  have  the  evidence 
of  that  m  a  little  mahogany  box  that  I  treasure 
1  have  all  those  receipts,  I  have  all  those  settle- 
ments that  were  made.  That  was  a  valuable 
experience  for  me. 

I   could   hardly  enumerate   the  many  experi- 
ences of  that  kind   that  my  father  seemed   to 
think  It  was  very  desirable  for  me  to  have.    Soon 
after  he  began  to  allow  me  to  loan  sums  of  money 
for   him,  and    meanwhile  I  was    saving  a  little 
money  from  what  I  could  earn  myself.     I  always 
had   a   httle   money.     I   know   of   some   people 
especially  young  men,  who  find  it  very  difficult 
to  keep  a  Httle  money  in  their  pocketbooks.     J 
learned  to  keep  the  money,  and,  as  we  had  a 
way  of  saying,    '*it   didn't   burn   a  hole  in   mv 
pocket."     I  was  taught  that  it  was  the  thing  to 
do  to  keep  the  money  and  to  take  care  of  it. 

Among  the  early  experiences  that  was  help- 
ful to  me,  that  I  recall  with  pleasure,  was  one  in 
working  a  few  days  for  a  neighbor,  in  digginij 
potatoes,  a  very  enterprising  thrifty  farmer  who 
could  dig  a  great  many  potatoes,  I  was  a  boy  of 
perhaps  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  of  age,  and  it 
kept  me  very  busy  from  morning  until  night— it 
was  a  ten-hour  day — it  was  at  least  ten  hours  I 
was  saving  these  little  sums  and  soon  learned 
^^^iJ  ^?^^^  g^t  as  much  interest  for  $50  loaned 
at  7% ,  the  legal  rate  in  the  State  of  New  York  at 
that  time,  for  a  year,  as  I  could  earn  by  digging 
potatoes  ten  days,  and  the  impression  was  gaining 


— ^smrnprs"^ 


ll 


around  with  me  that  it  was  a  good  thing  to  let 
the  money  be  my  servant  and  not  make  myself  a 
slave  to  money .  I  tried  to  reniember  that  ever 
since.  I  think  money  is  a  good  thmg  to  have 
if  we  know  how  to  use  it  properly.  1  think  it 
is  verv  harmful  to  many  people  because  they  do 
not  know  how  to  use  it  properly. 

I  was  in  school.  My  father  had  a  number  of 
rhildren  to  educate.  He  was  not  a  rich  man,  but 
he  kept  me'i  school  all  the  time  until  I  was  six- 
t^n  vears  of  age,  and  I  had  expected  to  go 
Srou^rcollege  'and  enjoy  the  adv-tage  *a 
many  of  you  gentlemen  have  enjoyed  and  1 
congratulate  you-but  I  can  t  say  t^at  ^  re^et 
that  circumstances  seemed  to  require  me  to  take 
care  of  myself.  ^    „j    o    ^r^m 

rn"hs."anA:nrin  the  year  185f .  IJ^^/- ^^ 
look  for  something  to  do.     And  all  those  years 
from  1855  to  1860  were  very  trying  years  in  the 
brness  world.     Many  of  you  gent lernen^are  too 
vnnntr  to  know  about  that  dreadful  panic  we  naa 
fn  "857-rt  left  a  blight  that  we  did  not  recover 
from   for  many   years.     After  many   days   and 
Ss  of  earnest  Endeavor  I-'^-f^iedin  getting 
a  promise,  one  mommg,  that  if  I  would  come 
back  in  the  afternoon  they  would  see  if  they 
coufd  give  me  a  situatk^n.     I  .^as  there  mt^ 
afternoon-early.     I  did  not  fail  to  go  nght  back 
to  know  what  the  result  was  going  to  be.     1  hap 
SS^o  meet  an  old  gentleman  last  summer 
E  said  to  me    "I  wat  there,  too,  when  you 
2Se  on  the  sWe'walk  that  day,  that  26th  day  of 
September   1855.     I  was  there  and  I  knew  you 
Sf  I^new  that  that  firm,  that  forwarding  and 
cSmission  firm,  wanted  a  young  man  in  the 

6 


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f 


office,  and  I  spoke  to  the  gentlemen.  This  is  a 
circumstance  that  I  had  never  known  before 
myself.  I  was  very  grateful  to  get  that  position. 
I  was  very  grateful  that  I  could  keep  it,  and  I  did 
keep  it  until  two  years  from  the  following  April, 
when  I  engaged  in  business  on  my  own  account — 
then  a  boy  of  less  than  nineteen  years  of  age 

I  could  not  have  done  for  myself  better  than  i 
did  for  my  employer.  How  I  wish  all  young 
men  could  know  that  the  way  to  hold  a  position 
is  to  do  just  that  thing!  You  who  employ 
young  men  know  that  some  young  men  expect 
to  do  just  as  little  as  they  can  and  are  much 
troubled  all  the  time  that  they  do  not  get  an 
increase  in  salary.  That  doesn't  make  a  very 
permanent  relationship  with  some  business  men, 
they  look  for  some  other  to  fill  the  place. 

I  was  very  fortunate  in  my  employers,  espe- 
cially the  man  who  had  the  accounting  in  the 
office  and  under  whom  I  worked  as  an  assistant 
bookkeeper  for  a  space  of  a  year  and  three  months, 
and  then,  as  he  desired  to  leave  the  position,  it 
was  tendered  to  me. 

I  should  have  said  in  respect  to  the  question  ot 
salary  that  I  was  to  receive,  that  I  knew  nothing 
about  that  until  the  first  of  January.  I  cared 
very  little  about  that.  I  wanted  the  position 
and  I  found  myself  so  much  interested  in  the 
work.  I  enjoyed  my  work,  I  was  happy  m  it. 
I  had  been  taught  to  work  from  early  boyhood 
and  this  was  so  delightful  to  me— all  the  method 
and  system  of  the  office.  And  then,  as  I  say,  I 
was  fortunate  in  the  association  in  the  office.  I 
remember  one  of  the  things  my  employer  did  for 
me  was  to  give  me  a  book,  "  The  Life  of  Amos 
Lawrence,"  and  that  made  a  very  profound  im- 
pression   upon   me.     A   successful    Boston   mer- 


chant  he  was,  such  a  useful  man,  who  made  such 
good  use  of  his  money. 

At  the  end  of  the  second  year  of  my  service  with 
this  company,  I  desired  a  salary  of  $800.     The 
man  who  had  filled  the  position  previously  had 
received   $2,000.     My  employer  was  willing  to 
give  me,  from  the  first  of  January  of  that  year 
$700.     The  matter  of  the  difference  was  a  ques- 
tion   which   was   under   consideration   when   an 
opportunity  offered  to  engage  in  business  with  a 
young  man  who  was  ten  years  older  than  myself, 
and  who  had  saved  a  little  money.     Accordingly, 
on  the  first  of  x\pril,  with  some  $800  or  $900  that 
I  had  saved  up,  and  with  $1,000  which  mv  father 
loaned  me  at  10%  until  I  should  become  of  age, 
I  contributed  my  part  of  the  capital,  which  was 
$4,000.     Everything  started  fairly  well  with  us 
until  we  came  to  June,  and  in  June  we  had  that 
dreadful  frost  which  was  a  bHght  upon  a  number 
of  the  Central  States,  and  my  partner  was  much 
discouraged;    but  we  soon  found  that  trade  as- 
sumed a  little  different  channel,  and  we  pressed 
forward  with  our  business,  and  found  that  our 
business  was  much  more  than  could  be  handled 
with  the  capital  we  had  provided.     As  I  had  had 
an  experience  in  this  office  of  a  number  of  years 
of  a  peculiarly  favorable  character  in  preparing 
me  for  financial   affairs,   I   was  undertaking  to 
secure   the   money  by   loans  and  otherwise,   to 
meet   these   growing   demands   as   our   business 
increased. 

We  were  prosperous  from  the  beginning,  we 
had  a  business  of  $500,000  in  the  produce  busi- 
ness the  first  year.  Our  profits  were  not  very 
large,  I  think  $4,400,  but  I  think  it  was  better  for 
me  than  the  $800  which  I  had  asked,  and  we  had 
gained  many  other  things  than  this  money.   I  had 

8 


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(• 


> 


hoped  that  a  dear  friend  of  mine,  who  had  express- 
ed himself  very  kindly  toward  me,  would,  in  an 
emergency,  put  his  name  upon  my  note,  don't 
you  know.  And  with  that  note  I  felt  sure 
that  I  could  borrow  some  money.  Accordingly 
I  asked  him  and  he  said,  "  John,  you  know  I 
would  do  it  for  you.  I  would  be  glad  to  do  it 
for  you,  but  you  know  I  have  an  agreement 
with  my  brothers  and  we  can't  endorse  paper." 
It  was  all  right,  and  I  made  no  complaint.  I 
had  no  business  to  ask  him  for  it  at  all.  He  was 
under  no  obligations  to  me  and  I  didn't  have  any 
unkindly  feeling  toward  him  for  declining  to 
give  me  the  endorsement.  But  I  had  to  set 
about  it  in  other  directions  at  once,  and  one  of 
those  directions  was  my  father.  My  father  had 
money  to  loan  and  I  borrowed  some  money  from 
my  father,  and  I  was  very  much  encouraged  that 
he  was  willing  to  trust  me.  I  just  gave  him  my 
note — he  was  a  very  careful  business  man.  After 
a  little  while  I  was  very  greatly  in  need  of  money. 
My  father  came  to  me  and  said,  ''My  son,  I  must 
have  that  money,  I  need  it  very  much,  I  must 
have  it."  It  was  a  very  serious  question  in  my 
mind  whether  he  really  needed  it.  I  think 
possibly  he  could  have  gotten  along  without  it, 
but  it  was  along  the  same  line  of  training  that 
he  had  been  giving  me  since  I  was  a  little  boy. 
I  was  cross  and  did  not  like  that.  I  supposed  he 
was  going  to  let  me  keep  the  money  until  the 
earnings  of  the  business  made  it  convenient  for 
me  to  hand  it  back  to  him.  But  he  said,  "  1 
must  have  it,"  and  I  said,  "  Certainly,  father, 
I  will  send  you  up  a  check,"  and  I  did  so.  In  a 
few  days  he  came  down  to  me  and  said,"  My  son. 
I  have  a  little  left  over,  I  could  let  you  have  a 
little,"  and  I  intimated  to  him  that  if  it  was  any 

9 


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'saawiiiMiars' 


accommodation  to  him  I  would  take  it,  certainly 
I  was  willing  to  oblige  the  old  gentleman.  I  took 
It  and  everything  went  on  smoothly  for  a  month 
or  so,  and  back  he  came  again  and  he  said,  "  I  am 
very  sorry,  my  son,   I   have  got  to  have  that 


to  do  so  for  some  time  until  at  last  when  he  had 
any  money  he  handed  it  to  me  and  was  very  glad 
to  have  me  keep  it,  and  he  knew  it  was  all  safe 
and  right.  That  was  a  very  great  encourage- 
ment to  me,  for  my  father  was  a  very  able 
business  man. 

Meanwhile,  I  needed  mpre  than  I  could  get 
from  him,  and  I  went  to  my  banker,  who  had 
known  me  in  Sunday  school,  and  had  known  me 
as  an  employee  in  this  firm,  and  I  said  to  him, 
**  I  must  have  some  money."     He  said,   **  Mr. 
Rockefeller,  how  are  you  doing  your  business?  " 
I  told  him.     He  said,  **  Do  you  make  any  ad- 
vances on  merchandise  without   you   have   the 
bills  of  lading  or  the  property  in  the  warehouse?" 
I    said,    **  No   sir.*'     Well,    do    you   speculate?" 
•*  No  sir."     •*  Do  you  promise  me,  Mr.   Rocke- 
feller, that  if  I  loan  you  money,  you  will  con- 
tinue to  do  so,  and  be  very  careful  not  to  make 
any  advances  without  you  have  in  hand  the  col- 
lateral, in  the  shape  of  bills  of  lading  or  ware- 
house receipts?"     And  I  said,  **  We  will."     And 
he  said,  "  How  much  do  you  want?"     And  I  said 
••A  couple  of  thousand."     And  he  said,  "  Cer- 
tamly,    Mr.    Rockefeller,    certainly,    all    right." 
That  was  a  happy  day  for  me.     What  a  service 
that  good  man  rendered  to  me  that  day!     I  knew 
that  my  intentions  were  all  right,  but  to  have 
that    man,    that    careful,    well-trained    man    of 

It'  11/ 


i 


i 


* 


finance,  say  to  me,  "  Certainly,  Mr.  Rockefeller, 
all  right!  "  It  was  all  right,  and  that  was  the 
beginning  of  larger  accommodations  that  I  was 
obliged  to  have  from  this  bank  and  other  banks  ♦ 
for  our  business  steadily  grew. 

And  later  on,  the  President  of  this  same  bank — 
I  having  borrow^ed  many  thousands  of  dollars, 
many  times  the  $2,000,  I  do  not  remember  just 
how  much — said  to  me  one  day,  and  it  was 
another  president  who  was  then  in  the  position, 
"  Why,  Rockefeller,  do  you  know  you've  got 
nearly  all  the  money  of  this  bank,  and  do  you 
know  our  Board  of  Directors  want  to  see  you  and 
talk  with  you?  "  I  said,  "  I  thank  you,  I  thank 
you,  I  shall  be  very  pleased  to  come  up  and  see 
them,  and  I  want  to  come  right  away  because 
I've  got  to  borrow  a  great  deal  more."  Well,  I 
borrowed  a  great  deal  more  from  that  bank  and 
from  other  banks,  and  I  paid  it  all  back,  and  the 
confidence  in  our  young  firm  grew,  and  the  con- 
fidence, our  own  confidence,  in  ourselves  grew. 
And  we  w^ere  careful  about  making  our  obliga- 
tions, very. 

Another  experience  came  on  the  heels  of  this 
that  was  interesting  and  very  trying.  One  of 
our  largest  consignors  from  the  country  came  in. 
He  had  been  making  us  very  large  shipments 
and  his  business  was  profitable  and  we  valued 
him  as  a  customer,  and  he  said  to  my  partner, 
who  did  the  talking  to  him,  "  I  cannot  continue 
these  shipments  without  you  give  me  some  money 
before  the  grain  is  shipped,"  and  my  partner  said 
to  me,  "  We  are  going  to  lose  this  customer  and  I 
am  greatly  troubled  about  it,  and  what  are  we  to 
do?  "  I  said,  **  There  is  but  one  thing  to  do,  we 
can't  do  any  other  way  than  we  have  been  doing, 
the  safe  way."     "  Well,"  he  said,  "  I  can't  talk 

11 


ii 


T\ 


with  him.     He's  cross.     He's  going  to  leave  us 

f^t  "^^-^r  ??'''?,^^i*?^^  ^^at  business.     Now  yoii 
talk   with   him.''     When   the  opportunity   pre- 
sented Itself  I  said  to  the  gentleman,  *'  We  prize 
vour  business  very  highly.     You  are    one  of  our 
best  customers.     We  don't  want  to  lose  you    We 
can  furnish  you  all  the  money  you  want,  but  it 
is  impossible  for  us  to  do  it  in  any  other  way      I 
hope  we  shall  not  lose  you.     We  ^11  do  our  best 
to  please  you.     We  will  try  to  do  your  business 
better  than  you  can  get  it  done  anywhere  else  " 
And  he  returned  home,  but  we  kept  his  business 
and  1  have  always  suspected  that  a  certain  old 
banker  back  of  him  in  the  country  was  trying  to 
ascertain  from  him  whether  these  drafts  would  be 
all  right,  and  when  he  found  that  we  took  his 
position,  in  some  way  or  other  he  made  it  pos- 
sible for  this  man   to  get  the  money.     At  all 
events   we   held    the   business.     That  was  very 
gratifying.  ^ 

At  about  this  time  I  had  an  experience  that  the 
sermon  of  last  Sunday  morning  called  to  my  mind 
1  had  never  sohcited  business  personally      My 
partner  was  the  man  who  attended  to  the  buying 
and   selling  and    I   had   attended   to   the   office 
attairs      When  I  went  out  into  the  country  to 
solicit  business    for    the  first  time  I  met  with 
great  success,     It  surprised  me.     I  found  that 
old  men  had  confidence  in  me  right  away,  and 
after  I  stayed  for  a  few  weeks  in  the  country  I 
returned  home  and  had  a  most  delightful  session 
w;ith  my  partner  even  before  going  home— it  was 
mght.   I   went  to  his  house — and  the  consign- 
ments came  in  and  our  business  was  increased 
and  it  opened  up  a  new  world  to  me.     I  did  not 
know  that  I  could  influence  these  men  to  give  us 
the  business,  but  my  presentation  to  them  was 


1 


ir^ 


^y 


very- simple,  I  did  not  even  ask  for  their  busi- 
ness in  many  cases.  I  said  to  some,  "  We  are 
engaged  in  the  business.  You  may  have  your 
other  business  relations  that  are  entirely  satis- 
factory; if  so,  I  am  not  asking  your  business— I 
just  want  you  to  know  about  us.  We  are  pre- 
pared to  do  the  business,  we  hope  we  can  do  it  as 
well  as  anybody  else  d^n  do  it,  and  if  you  make  a 
change,  won't ^you  kindly  give  us  young  men  a 
chance?  "  Ann  they  did.  That  was  very  grati- 
fying to  me,  that  was  very  gratifying  to  my 
partner. 

A  little  later  on  in  the  business  when  we  re- 
quired so  much  more  money,  hundreds  of  thous- 
ands of  dollars,  instead  of  those  smaller  amounts, 
we  had  a  great  fire  that  destroyed  a  vast  amount 
of  property,  and  some  of  the  banks  began  to  look 
carefully  to  see  how  much  of  our  paper  they  had . 
I  remember  that  I  was  casting  about  very  care- 
fully to  see  where  we  could  get  a  large  amount  of 
money  providing  the  insurance  money  was  not 
paid — and  I  did  not  wait  until  our  obligations 
matured — I  looked  in  advance.  The  circum- 
stance that  I  am  now  to  refer  to  I  did  not  know 
about  at  the  time.  I  did  not  know  about  it  until 
afterward.     An  officer  in  the  bank  said, 

I  think  we  have  about  enough  of  that  paper." 
I  was  not  present  and  knew  nothing  about  it. 
Another  officer  in  the  bank  said,  "  Those  young 
men  are  all  right."  He  was  a  positive  man,  he 
called  to  his  son4n-law,  who  was  president  of  the 
bank,  and  he  said,  "  Dan,  bring  my  box."  And 
he  brought  out  his  box,  and  he  said,  '*  Here,  gen- 
tlemen, these  young  men  are  all  right.  Just  take 
what  you  want.  These  men  are  all  right." 
That  was  very  gratifying.  I  would  like  to  men- 
tion the  name  of  that  man.     His  name  was  Still - 


vears 


12 


r 


13 


man  Witt.  It  was  a  well-known  name  thirty-five 
or  forty  years  ago.  Stillman  Witt,  a  grand  old 
man,  a  grand  good  friend  of  ours,  and  I  shall  be 
grateful  to  him  as  long  as  I  live. 

And  he  was  not  the  only  man  of  that  sort  who 
knew  about  us  and  who  had  an  interest  in  us  and 
who  believed  in  us.  Another  man  I  called  upon 
at  that  time,  a  man  of  large  wealth.  I  said  to 
him  •*  We  have  had  this  fire.  We  may  require 
some  additional  money.  Can*t  say  now  if  we  do. 
What  can  you  do  ?  Do  you  want  to  do  anything  ? 
I  remember  very  well  where  I  found  him — m  his 
lumber  yard — he  was  a  man  having  different 
interests,  very  large  interests,  and  a  man  of  very 
reat  wealth.     This  was  his  answer,  '   All  right, 

D.,  I  will  let  you  have  anything  I've  got. 
„^ell,  that  was  very  gratifying.     We  did  not  ask 
him  for  anything,  but  so  long  as  I  live  the  name  ot 
that   man    I    shall   remember   with   gratitude — 
Stephen  V.  Harkness. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  have  ever  mentioned 
either  of  these  circumstances  before  in  public, 
but  I  owe  it  to  the  memory  of  these  men  and  I  am 
happy  to  give  these  circumstances  here. 

Many  such  experiences  we  had  all  the  way 
along,  and  though  the  business  increased  on  every 
hand  it  seemed  that  the  successes  came  compara- 
tively easy,  and  I  dated  it  all  back  to  the  httle 
beginnings  of  the  training  that  I  got  at  home  and 
my  wiUingness  to  work,  and  the  people  some  way 
seemed  to  have  confidence  in  us.  What  a  great 
boon  it  is  to  a  man— to  have  another  man  tell 
him  that  he  believes  in  him,  that  he  trusts  himl 
What  a  happiness  all  my  business  experience  has 
been  because  my  associates  beheved  m  me, 
trusted  me  implicitly!  And  many  of  those 
associates  have  long  since  passed  away,  but  there 

14 


\ 


I 


•\ 


y 


^ 


IS  hardly  a  week  that  ever  goes  by  that  I  do  not 
recount  their  names  and  think  of  them,  hardly  a 
week  ever  passes  that  I  do  not  call  up  the  names 
of  those  honorable,  able,  good  men  with  whom  it 
was  my  pleasure  to  be  associated  for  long,  long 

years. 

If  you  will  pardon  me,  I  will  refer  just  in  this 
connection  to  something  that  happens  very  often 
to  me  now.  In  the  dreams  at  night  I  find  myself 
taking  up  that  cash  account,  that  first  situation, 
and  I  remember  that  the  former  cashier  and 
bookkeeper  in  this  position  was  just  a  little  short 
in  his  cash,  not  because  he  had  done  anything 
wrong,  but  he  told  me  that  he  had  been  a  little 
negligent  and  had  not  taken  up  the  cash  every 
day,  and  I  saw  that  he  put  in  his  check  for  the 
few  dollars  that  were  short.  Do  you  know  that 
often  I  am  working  at  night  over  the  old  cash 
account  and  I  am  recalling  the  fact  that  I  am  a 
Httle  short  in  my  account,  instead  of  the  former 
man  in  the  place,  a  peculiarity  of  the  dreams, 
fifty  years  ago  coming  back  in  this  way. 

You  have  listened  very  patiently.  I  thank 
you  for  it.  There  are  some  here  of  the  younger 
men,  who  are  anxious,  as  I  was  anxious  that  day 
and  in  all  the  days  preceding  that  memorable 
26th  of  September,  when  I  secured  that  position. 
All  the  future  hung  upon  that  day,  upon  that 
chance!  Do  not  be  discouraged,  young  man.  I 
had  many  refusals,  I  did  not  give  up.  I  suppose 
I  should  have  been  soliciting  a  position  until  this 
time  if  I  hadn't  got  that  place.  T  don't  know 
whether,  if  I  hadn't  gotten  it  you  would  have 
wanted  me  to  address  you  tonight,  but  I  am 
thankful  all  the  same  that  you  do. 

I  am  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind  attention  and 
I  shall  hope  with  your  permission  at  some  other 

15 


-rs" 


"HP" 


I  f  1 


at'- 


lime  to  have  a  friendly  word  with  you.  1  feel  it 
a  great  honor  to  be  here,  to  be  associated  with 
you.  I  feel  great  gratitude  to  you  all,  and  great 
respect  for  you.  as  I  consider  what  you  are  doing, 
what  a  help  you  have  been  to  my  dear  son,  how 
you  co-operate  in  every  way  to  'make  this  work 
succeed.  And  you  may  never  know  what  this 
means,  the  association  of  good  men  entering 
upon  life,  with  all  its  possibilities,  you  mav  never 
know  what  this  means.  O,  how'grateful  I  am 
that  these  associations  were  given  me  in  mv  early 
boyhood,  that  I  was  contented  and  happy  with 
this  sort  of  work,  with  the  work  in  the  church, 
with  the  work  in  the  Sunday  school,  with  the 
work  with  good  people — that  was  mv  environ- 
ment, and  I  thank  God  for  it. 

And  pardon  me  if  I  just  say  one  further  word, 
with  respect  to  many  who  may  be  considering  the 
question  of  whether  at  this  tirne  or  in  the  immedi- 
a.te  future  you  will  identify  yourself  with  the 
Christian  Church.  From  my  own  experience  I 
beg  you  not  to  put  it  off.  Under  God,  it  was  the 
greatest  blessing  that  could  have  come  to  me.  I 
not  only  united  with  the  church  as  a  boy  of  four- 
teen years  of  age,  but  I  went  right  to  work  and 
they  found  a  place  for  me,  and  I  w^as  happy  in  the 
work.  It  was  not  all  business,  that  was  a  part, 
I  enjoyed  that.  I  turned  to  this  work  and  to 
other  works,  and  so  all  my  life  has  been  a  life  full 
of  happiness  because  full  of  such  works.  And 
the  best  wdsh  that  I  could  wish  for  any  of  you 
would  be  that  you  should  have  just  such  a  happy 
life  of  w^ork.  And  you  won't  have  a  happy  life  if 
vou  don't  work. 


Hi 


INTENTIONAL  SECOND  EXPOSURE 


i     "h.\. 


VI 


Jij^_j.;,i(««li*W*'«*  '*»«* 


#■ 


^'l«P«!a*l!ff«B*W:«i^^  f* 


**  All  young  men  who  come  to  tbts  Cbutch 
md  Class  are  welcome^  regardless  of  party, 
creed  or  residence.  The  great  question  for  us 
all  is  not  where  we  come  from,  but  where  "we 
are  going  to." — Dr.  i^aunce. 


\  ) 


If  ■■•■' 


THE  YOUNG  MEN'S  BIBLE  CLASS 

OP    THB 

FIFTH  AVENUE   BAPTIST  CHURCH 

... 

4  TO  8  West  46th  Street 

NEW    YORK    CITY 
JOHN   D.   ROCKEFELLER,   Jr.,   Leader 

All  young  men  who  are  not  members  of  any 
other  Class  are  cordially  invited  to  attend  its 
se^ions  on  Simdays,  froni  October  1st  to 
May  31st,  inclusive. 

Rev.  Willard  S.  Richardson 

general  secretary  ' 

11  West  45Ta  Street 


THE    CLUB 

11  West  45t|i  Street 
William  E.  Church,   president 

All  active  and  honorary  members  of  the  Class 
are  eligible  to  Club  membership. 


*M''f  " 


»»^^. 


* ♦■wiiiiii  ii^aiig iiiiimiiwiiiiiiwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiii' 


'fiH^  ^'^If  ..'■■iiii'^fffiiy.^iiff*''"'''' '''T''*"'".Lt!.!!!t  "Tff"" 


i  fr ™i: ""^'"*  i"^;;.!"'! 


*^Mr> 


Date  Due 


D410 


Rockefeller 


R592 


f^io 


V 


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R  (fi  Z 


0:^5 


"^J^irim 


COLUMB 


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